I'm Here
by AndFlyingMachines
Summary: Santana has nightmares but Brittany knows how to soothe her. One-shot. Brittana.


_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Glee_

_**A/N:** One-shot. Second from prompt list found on profile. Most of this just happened as I wrote it..._

I'm Here

Brittany was driven awake in the middle of the night, a whimpering sound coming from her right. In a second, she recognized the sound belonging to Santana and rapidly blinked her eyes to bring herself fully awake. Turning on her side she examined the smaller girl: her back was turned to her, she was slightly curled in on herself though she would occasionally stretch or kick out, and her face was hidden beneath a mess of dark hair.

Reaching out, she brushed the hair out of her love's face and pressed herself into her back, curling herself about the latina. She slid an arm around the girl's waist and placed a soft kiss to her temple. Feeling Santana trembling in her arms, the blonde nudged her cheek with her nose and moved her lips to hover above the girl's ear. She breathed in the "Sanny smell" she loved so much and breathed out the words she knew would calm even an unconscious Santana, "I'm here."

Just as expected, Santana's body stilled and eased into the bed and warm body behind her. Brittany laid her head down on the brunette's pillow, burying her nose in the soft hair and neck of her girlfriend. She breathed in. And out. Slow, deep breathes.

She hated waking to a trembling Santana. She didn't even know if it was the weak jostling or the emotional unease flowing from the girl that pulled her from her slumber. Though knowing how to quickly sooth her girl helped.

Brittany had tried for years to convince her not to watch scary movies to no avail. When she found out that Santana had nightmares after watching them, Brittany was horrified and quickly exclaimed that they were never going to watch another one. Santana had laugh and adamantly objected, saying that not ALL scary movies gave her nightmares and she actually _liked_ to watch them. Plus, she rarely remembered much of her nightmares. Eventually, Brittany had convinced Santana to only watch them if, and only if, she spent the night with the blonde. She had hated(and still does hate) the idea of the brunette being alone when a nightmare struck.

Santana had been truthful when she said that not all scary movies gave her nightmares. Brittany had asked what it was that scared her but she didn't know. And her eyes didn't lie to the blonde. So Brittany had took it upon herself to observe and try and decipher what it could be. She would note what movie they watched(literally, she had a notebook dedicated to this task) and would mark if Santana had a nightmare or not.

She had no luck. There were no connections between the type of horror- slasher, supernatural, psychological, zombies- any kind could cause the nighttime tremors of her girlfriend. It didn't matter if the main characters were a group of friends or complete strangers. It didn't matter if there was a lot of gore or not. It didn't matter if they all died in the end or if they survived. Nor did it matter if cute animals died in it. She had no luck. At first.

In the first few nights, she had figured out the that the two words that had always calmed _her_ when Santana spoke them, also did the same for the latina. For quite some time she had given up trying to figure out what caused these episodes, content in the fact that she could end them in the moment. That is until she started picking up a theme in these movies. She had stopped writing the movies down so she wasn't sure if her thoughts were that accurate, so she started up again. After about the fifth nightmare-inducing movie, Brittany was pretty sure she had figured it out.

These movies had similar events occur. One of the characters would leave their group or companion in hopes of finding help, ending the horror in some fashion, saving someone else, or whatever other plot device was needed. The reason didn't matter, what mattered was if someone pleaded with them not to go and they left anyway.

Knowing that _this_ was a fear of the girl she loved-that she would be left-tore at her heart. After her discovery, Brittany would repeatedly whisper the words "I'm here" to the sleeping girl at night. She would whisper them to the girl when she was awake and she would send the message through her thoughts, hoping they would reach her.

One day Brittany had linked their pinkies, looked her directly in the eye, and spoke the words with a shake of their joined pinkies and a firm nod. Santana had just smiled, laughing softly, and brought the taller girl into a hug.

Brittany had wondered why it was only horror films with this theme that caused the nightmares, other genres certainly used it. She thought maybe it was just the added suspense and overall... scariness that did it. Or maybe it was that they rarely watched anything other than comedies, horror, and kids movies; horror just containing "heavier" material. She really didn't know but she figured that one day she might, and she didn't have a lot of time to spend thinking about it when she was busy trying to reassure her girlfriend that she would never be left by her.

The blonde had moved her arm from around the brunette's waist to lightly brush her fingers up and down her tan arm. Lifting her head, she propped herself up on her elbow gazing down at the sleeping beauty. Brittany smiled at this. Santana was her Sleeping Beauty and she would be her Prince Phillip, fighting the vicious dragon so her love could wake to her kisses. Always.

"I'm here. I'm here. I'm here." The words were slow and soft as they left the blonde's lips.

She _will _prove to Santana that she will never leave her. The fear may not consciously be about the blonde, but she would fight to erase the fear altogether. No matter how long it took.

As Brittany's fingers glided back down her arm, Santana rolled onto her back in her sleep. Brittany's eyes flitted over the girl's slight frame; legs still slightly turned due to Brittany's legs snugly fit behind them, tan arm resting across her stomach, her plum colored boy shorts and plain white tank top revealing a generous amount of of her _heavenly_ skin, and her features peaceful and relaxed. A smile rose her own features and she leaned down to let her lips brush the smaller girl's jawline.

She leaned back, letting her hand travel back to the brunette's arm. Watching her own fingers dance across tan skin, she found herself starting to trace "I'm here" onto the girl's forearm. Brittany perked up when an idea suddenly came to her. Suppressing a giggle, she carefully slid out of bed receiving a disgruntled sound from the sleeping Santana. She moved to her desk and excitedly started digging in a drawer.

Deciding purple was a good color-it matched San's boy shorts after all-, Brittany crawled back into bed. She watched Santana's face as she pulled the lid off of her marker, making sure she didn't wake. Satisfied the girl was still deeply asleep, Brittany examined her girlfriend's body once again trying to decide the best spot for her message. Her eyes lingered on the sliver of skin exposed at her waistline for several moments before flicking back up to watch Santana's face. As she reached out and slowly slid the material of the girl's shirt up, she bit her lip at the feeling of Santana's stomach under her fingers.

Eventually, she pulled her gaze down to her new writing-plain. She simply stared for awhile, watching the slight movements of the girl before her. She let her hand graze over the skin once more before lightly pressing marker to skin.

"I'm here.

Always.

-B"

After a few moments she decided to add a small heart to her note.

Smiling at her work, she leaned down again and placed another kiss on her girlfriend, this one just above her message. Satisfied, Brittany slid the shirt back down over her words, placed the cap back on her marker, and set it on her nightstand before snuggling back into Santana's side.

She knew the message would do little to abate the brunette's fear but it would certainly cause a smile to grace her perfect lips. And if she continued to do little things like this, who knew? Maybe it _would _lessen the fear.

As she let the warmth of Santana's body seep into her and lull her to sleep, she breathed out a final "I'm here" before dozing off.

_**A/N:** Sorry if there are points that are confusing... as I said, most of this just happened as I was writing it. _


End file.
